Got a call from Greg, sounds like Steve Petty finished the 500 in roughly 32 hours, and Peggy also finished, but didn't know the time.  Sandy Earl and Nelson are out there in the rain doing the 24 hour -- Sandy's in her natural element, being from Oregon...     hope everybody else stayed upright (so to speak)...
 
I'm heading down there later today for the dinner, and awards, I'll try to get some pics...
 
Paul

Had a pretty good ride through 8 laps, 9th lap was a little worse, and then made a rookie mistake in the heavy rain on the 10th lap, and just didn't take in enough calories, and bonked pretty badly.  Decided to NHF (not having fun) and left almost 5 hours on the clock.  Still had a great time, especially seeing all the bents do so well.  Wow our women truly shined, I think Sandy set the Overall course record for the 24hr, and Peggy set a new 500 mile womens record.  Congratulations to all the racers, and major thanks to all the crew and volunteers!
 
Take Care,
Nelson.
 

First off, I would like to thank everyone for all the support.This was our first solo 500 event event.  Bryan Mckenney motivating coach/friend-all he did was share his food plan/training for the prior years event-he did everything a person could do for me to break his course record except pedal/steer the bike.Nelson Ralls-a lot of 5:00am riding times & great friend(power tap interpreter). And last but not leat Peggy for putting up with me & being herself.
 
This was our first event as Team Bacchetta riders, & this was our super bowl (in our own backyard) that we had trained all year for, no pressure.
 
Without question, we had the best crew at the TTTT's, Mark & Linda Metcalfe were awesome crew & even better people. Both are experienced racers/crew. And we put them to the test as crew.
 
The Texas Time Trials is a fantastic event, well run by Dan Driscoll,& well supported (a total of 200 riders from 26 states, 5/6 countries) in the scenic Brazos River valley S/W of Ft.Worth Texas.The three course obstacles are the heat, wind, & chip seal. The majority of the solo 500 riders chose the 48 hour start time, about 10-12 of the 34 solo riders chose the 36 hr start time.
 
The course consists of a 26.3 mile loop , which my Garmin read as approx. 1,130' climbing per lap. For the 501+ miles, I burned 27,579 calories,total climbing of 20,917 feet, & I had a rolling bike avg. of 16.0 mph.I spent approx. 1 hr-25 mins in the pits, I didn't get off the bike until after lap #10, I ate/drank while in the pits.
 
My ride was going according to plan, then on lap #4 thru #14, I battled stomach issues. I have had too many morning of getting up at 3:00-4:00 to get in training, too many overnight brevets, too many long brevets/permanents in the heat to quit. I wasn't going to let that happen. JS had told me before there would be highs/lows during the event & you just have to ride through them.
 
The toughest part of the race for me was lap #18. I knew my Garmin would not last the entire race, so I had a battery charger.While I was in the pits(Lap#10), I connected the charger to the Garmin.
 
Before the race, I designated the start finish line a the lap reset for the 705. On Lap 17.75 the garmin charger quits(Oh, & that's when the cold down pour started too),it's has 2 lithium AA batteries, so it lasted almost 8 laps. When the charger shut off,so did the Garmin. I re-started the Garmin, no problem, but now the starting point changed to where the Garmin was re-started, which
automatically changed the number of laps from 17(current lap) to 18,1 ahead of where I actually was. But being a zombie, I didn't realize this. So lap 19 comes on the screen(there are 19 laps for the 500 mile event,but I'm on lap 18), I'm really enjoying not seeing the a lot the course anymore at this point. I cross the finish line in the rain/cold, thinking I'm glad I don't have to ride in the rain like the rest of the suckers. I get off the bike, my crew is looking at me,cold/drowned rat & sitting in a chair. I say I'm glad to be done. The look on their faces! Mark tells me in a very nice way," you have one more lap." Now ,the look on my face. I say "no way, you guys are wrong." I didn't even get a chance to argue my chase. Peggy, Mark,Linda & Bryan McKenney bundle me up in rain gear(I didn't even get out of my cold,rain soaked jersey/shorts) & they push me out on the bike. You talk about tough.
 
I thought I was done, nope. ONE more stinking lap in the rain after being mentally/physically spent. Then on the way out, Mark tells me another competitor, very accomplished ,ultra cyclist Tom Lavalle is three mins behind me for 4 place overall. The last 26.3 miles I gave all I had & Tom finished 13mins behind me. Now in Tom's defense, he went out way to hard in this event & rode last chance the week before(hey, it's a vicotry & I'll take it). When I finished (for real this time) I had a whole cheering section at the start finish line & I got a big bear big from Mark & he tells "way to suck it up, not very people could have done that." Coming from Mark, that meant a lot.
 
My overall time was 33hrs,11 mins. I'm disappointed with my time. For a while I flirted with Bryan Mckenney's course record time of 30+ hours, but the heat/humidity of Friday was taking its toll on all riders & especially me as I was chasing calories with my stomach issues.
 
After that, I knew 30+ hours was gone, but I was going for JS's time of last year of 32+ hours. I was on pace, then with 2 laps to go, a heavy downpour hit the area & I was forced to back off the pace or run the risk of crashing on the slick road surfaces. I had ridden too far to risk it, so I soft pedaled like the rest of the riders on the course weather the storm(so to speak). I was more
afraid of flatting during/after the rain (as the rubber on the tire softens,the junk from the road surfaces).  
 
It's always great to see old friends at these events, Dennis Johnson(class act & freind), Dave Towns(always with a good laugh/story), & Ray Torrey(great friend). Ray Torrey giving me encouragement before the start of the race saying how proud he was of Peggy & I.
 
Peggy set a female course bent record for 500 solo of 35+ hours. The best story of Peggy was flying through one of the fast descent at night yelling "I love my Bacchetta." Thank to Bacchetta for designing/manufacturing great bikes.
 
If I forgot anyone(and there are too many friends that have helped us along the way) I apologize. I'm still a bit foggy from the event.
 

My first 500 solo race:  I training all year for this event. Steve and I rode so many brevets, so many 5am training rides. We rode a 300k over night for night training. I used the 1000k in may to prove to myself that I could ride that far. I had 3 goals for this years TTT,  One to finish in the 48 hour time limit making me RAAM qualified. Two to set s new over all women course record. Three to be the first women recumbent to finish the Tejas 500 solo.  I was lucky enough to have had Mark and Linda Metcalfe crew for us. With all their racing and crewing experience we were in great hands. My race went pretty well, I only had a few minor heat issues.But with a couple of slow laps and tossing my cookies my stomach felt much better. Mark and Linda got my food plan back on track and keep me on the bike.I had one lap I just could not stay a wake, so I keep LSR riders Sharron Stephens and Charlie Fenske in my sight with there help I stay awake. As I came in for my 18th lap getting ready to start my last lap Mark and Linda told me I needed to make it a sprint lap. In order to reach one of my time goals.I thought they must be crazy sprint 26 miles after riding nearly 470 miles. But Mark said just stay focused and ride hard. So I pushed hard I did my last lap in about 1:47. As I made the last turn for the finish line I had a 24 hour racer call on your right. I thought no way I put the bike in big ring and let rip crossing the line at about 30 MPH.  My race time was 35 hours 27 minutes. Setting a new course record.  
 
I'm so proud of Steve and all of our friends that raced or gave up there weekend to crew. To see so many people accomplish there goals  or just have a great time this weekend.
 
Now to get a little rest and start looking at new adventures for next year.
 
With what  Steve and I have been able to do in the past few years of cycling. Is prove that anyone can do anything you set you mind to do.It was just August 2007 I did my first century. So think big, train hard, have fun. be safe, make new friends.  
 
Thanks for all the great rides ,rbent, looking forward to a great fall of riding.
Peggy

Steve and Peggy, y'all are awesome!!  Congratulations on great rides.

Race results are up on the LSR discussion board...  just for reference, it looks like the 4-person 500mile course record is now 26:10, set by the Manly Bulge boyz...   very impressive, but I think we should start planning now for a 'bent team to beat that next year...